Latest update to 'Struggling student on 3s delays'

[lintern 1]

Some more thoughts to my current situation (see "Struggling student stuck on 3s delays")......

I think that at the end of the day any physically abled body can skydive.

I mean, how hard is it to look up, push your hips out, point your toes and hold your arms out level with your ears! Its not!

Which is why when practicing on the ground it is not a problem to achieve a good, stable position.

Doing it for real on exiting an aircraft thousands of feet up in the air doing 80mph is a completely different ball game, simply because of how the mind interprets the situation. From this respect, the vast majority of people cannot skydive or even consider the thought of jumping from a perfectly good aircraft.

And so the basics of skydiving seems to be more of a mind game than a physical skill.

I think this is where my problem lies.

Having thought more about why I am not able to do such a simple thing as arch - which is not a physically difficult thing to do - I have come up with the following to further explain the main reason I think I am having so much difficulty.

This sensory overload I get on exit when the adrenalin is really pumping, has two very negative effects on me.

Firstly I am almost unaware as to what is happening - the exit is a 'blur'. From the point of exit to the point of having an almost open canopy I only remember snap shots of what actually happens. This is why when people advise me to 'just arch' their advice is of no help. This is because I am unable to consciously tell myself what to do due to this sensory overload.

Secondly, an analogy to how I feel upon exit is similar I suppose to when a rabbit runs out in front of an on coming vehicle and freezes in the headlights. The rabbit behaves as if it were paralysed and is unable to make its body move safely out of the way. Much like me when I exit, I feel as if I have no control of my body, as if I am 'scared stiff'. I am nervous on exit, but alot of people feel the same at some point when jumping dont they? Especially in the early days of jumping and if there have been problems and mals etc.

Both of these negative effects probably sound extremely dangerous for someone to experience when skydiving.

BUT.... from my tandem experience I had the same experience for the first several seconds. After that my brain caught up and I was surprised at how relaxed and aware I actually became when falling stable in freefall.

So the reason I continue jumping is because I am hoping that even though the first few seconds maybe a blur, once I get stable in freefall my brain will catch up and I will be OK. In addition to this the other important thing I have been successful at doing every time is to find and pull the ripcord.

Some people suggest trying a longer delay like 10 seconds to allow me more time to correct my body position. My worry here is if I remain unstable or even worse become more unstable (like spinning) to the point where I freak out and can't even pull.

What makes it so difficult to deal with all this is the fact that I do not want to quit. It would be so easy to just stop jumping but I think that would piss me off even more than the problems I am having now.

PS. I did a 3 sec delay last Saturday and pulled on my back and at one point I was actually head first towards the ground.

My instructor was not very happy because the pilot chute and bag came out between my legs nearly causing an entanglement.

Because of this I have been put back onto the rope again. My instructor said I could try freefall every now and again but he is more concerned now about me doing freefall.

[AndyMan 7]

Your profile is empty... Where do you live? I would love to see you try some AFF-style jumps, where you go straight to freefall with instructor assistance. I think it'd help you get over these mental hurdles.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[mofo554 0]

I, like you, struggled with S/L training. However, after switching over to AFF, everything suddenly clicked. I don't necessarily regret the time I spent doing S/L, but if I had to choose between S/L or AFF, AFF would get my vote every single time. Like you said, your sensory overload disappeared after a few seconds during your tandem jump. AFF jumps allow you time to adjust to your surroundings, and to learn way more about freefall than the initial S/L jumps. Knowing what I know now, if I were you, I wouldn't jump S/L again until you've done at least two AFF jumps...

[lintern 1]

Quote

Your profile is empty... Where do you live?

I have just updated my profile.

[ripper0289 0]

Firstly I am almost unaware as to what is happening - the exit is a 'blur'. From the point of exit to the point of having an almost open canopy I only remember snap shots of what actually happens. This is why when people advise me to 'just arch' their advice is of no help. This is because I am unable to consciously tell myself what to do due to this sensory overload.***


I'm an AFF student at Skydive Pennsylvania, and beginning with my very first jump my JM's do a fanatstic review of the dive with me. After my first jump I realized how important it was to both 1) Relax and have fun, but also 2) Keep my focus up there.
I've found that I'm actually enjoying it more when I can feel what my body is doing, especially after my last dive when I was doing 180 and 360 degree turns. It was one of those "Holy Smokes! I'm really doing this!" moments. I caught some turbulence near the ground so I did a major league pooch screw landing, but nothing broken, thank God.
Personally, the focus and concentration and trying to relax at the same time lets me enjoy my dive more, and hopefully makes me a better and safer student. The JMs at my dropzone do a fantastic job.

[surf4life11 0]

Sensory overload is just a thing that is going to happen until your body adjusts and realizes it is ok to jump from an airplane. I went through static line progression and consider it no better or no worse than AFF. Do not let people tell you one is better than the other when they did not go through both, let yourself decide. If you continue through static line all I can say is focus. Focus is what is going to get you over that sensory overload. My way of getting over it was to focus on the plane leaving as I jumped from it. Watch the plane move away from you as you arch and become stable in freefall. It may take some time but you will eventually get over the sensory overload and enjoy everything about skydiving. Take care and good luck.

[fred 0]

I think I had a total of 8 10-second delays. I definately had the same issues as you're describing... The exits were a blur, I was nervous (definately not relaxed), and I would spin or chip or just generally be unstable.

Then I went to Eloy and did AFF. While I think the SL is a great program, I really needed AFF to get me over that hurdle. My first AFF jump was sloppy, much like my 10 second delays, but my second AFF jump was far better, and I never had a problem after that.

So, my advice:
1) Do at least two AFF jumps if you can. And do them on the same day.
2) Try to make as many attempts at your delays on the same day as you can. 2 jumps/day is not the way to learn in this sport. It's tiring and expensive, but aim for 4 jumps in a day.

[ripper0289 0]

A neat trick one of my JM's pulled on me my last jump was to ask me to look at the belly of the plane immediately after exit and tell him whether the gear was up or down.

[DJL 235]

Have one of your instructors smack you in the face just before you exit.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[bojana 0]

I do take notice to advices experienced skydivers give us students, but I wonder how instrustors see and understand these troubles.just curious.

[bojana 0]

Any replies?I would really like to know the opinnion.

[samyueru 0]

I've seen several other students at my DZ have the same problems. I've always had a good arch, but I definately get the blurry sensory overload. (my first PRP I totally forgot to pull, and first freefall, I spasmed and opened in a slighty poor body position.)
I think the key to success I've had is to RELAX. Fast is slow, and slow is fast. Another trick that's helped me so far in my progression is, while hanging on the prop, doing a last run through of what you need to do.
As for a good arch, I think the head position is pretty important; today was the first time I've screwed up my arch. I was doing my delta jump, and was thinking about that so much that the second I let go, I flipped upside down. Re-arched, and flipped right ways and got my jump done. My instructor said that my head was down when I let go, and that's why I flipped...keep lookin at that plane. :)

Anyway, just my newbie advice - sure there's better stuff out there.

Keep tryin!! The longer freefalls are comin' up, and they're worth sticking around for!

-Alex

[cruzit 0]

***I think that at the end of the day any physically abled body can skydive***

Absolutely. The key to success in skydiving is directly related to a persons ability in mastering their fear. I've been skydiving for 11 years...and believe me, I was one of the worlds worst students. Brain locked, on my back, spinning out of control...you name I did it. Until I conquered my fear (in my case it was a fear of being unable to react quickly enough to save myself) I was unable to progress very much.

Eventually, the initial fear of death is replaced by fear of failure to perform (something which is mentally much easier to handle) But it takes time.

A couple of years ago, I took up rock climbing (much, much scarier than skydiving...believe me) It is another one of those edge sports where your belief (mental) in yourself is imperative to success. I have had a lot of trouble in certain aspects of the sport because I had not been willing to push past my fear.

This summer, I read the book, Rock Warriors Way. While the book is about rock climbing, it is one of the best books I have ever read about how to effectively deal with your fears...not just in rock climbing, but in skydiving and in life.

If you get a chance to read it, I think you will agree.

In the meantime...hang in there. I eventually learned to skydive and now am an instructor.

[Mr.Burns 0]

Try visualize what you are going to do repeatedly on the ride up in the plane. It keeps your brain occupied, and if you are lucky it will lock on to the sequence of events you are visualizing, like a mantra, and you can completely avoid sensory overload. Just finished my 3s and it worked for me.

[wildchild 0]

At least your pilot chute passed between your legs...lol I did my first 3sec delay freefall jump on Saturday (jump 9) and managed to get myself unstable before pulling. However, I faithfully followed the rules of freefall (pull the ripcord, at correct altitude last priority preferably stable!) and expected trouble...well when the pilot chute snagged my ankle on the way past it got quite exciting!! I was all ready to cut away when fortunately everything sorted itself out and the jump continued without any further drama (aside from some very obscene verbal commentary on my part )

Hey - at least it was good value for money i.t.o. adrenaline produced!!!

I will be back....

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"If there is doubt, there is no doubt." - Tonto